WINERIES

Coto de Gomariz

One of the leading producers in Ribeiro, Coto de Gomariz is proud to grow their vines in what they claim to be the first wine clos in the Iberian Peninsula dating from the 10th century, according to documents kept at the archive of Simancas.

The story in Ribeiro echoes more or less what happened across Galicia with white Palomino and red Alicante Bouschet being massively planted after phylloxera decimated native plants. Pioneers Arsenio Paz (Vilerma) and Ricardo Carreiro started recovering indigenous grape varieties in the late 70s and then went on to set up individual projects. Coto de Gomariz is one of the region’s leading producers after Ricardo’s son (also named Ricardo) took over the winery in 2000 and hired oenologist Xosé Lois Sebio.

In their 28 hectares, some of them farmed biodynamically, Gomariz produces both whites and reds, with white wines specially worth looking for. They strive to make wines with ripe Treixadura grapes and alcohol levels above 13% in order to obtain full-bodied and round palates. Reds are even riper and escape from the Atlantic pattern common in the area. Most of them are Sousón blends, a native variety with plenty of structure and able to sustain long periods in oak. In fact, Sebio argues that red varieties were more widely grown than whites in this area. Whites ferment in stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeasts.

The Flower and the Bee is an independent project. Among their range of white and red wines, they make a white wine (around €8-9 in Spain) which is a good introduction to Treixadura, the dominant white grape in the area.

Their flagship wine is Coto de Gomariz white, a young blend of Treixadura, Godello, Loureira and Albariño (around 60.000 bottles, €11.5) while Coto de Gomariz Colleita Seleccionada (around 3,300 bottles, €17) comes from the oldest plot called O Figueiral with clay soils and includes some Lado in the blend; it ferment in stainless steel tanks, it is then oak aged for 10 months and returns to stainless steel tanks for one year. Gomariz X is an original 95% Albariño, 5% Treixadura blend form a specific plot with schist soils (around 4,000 bottles, €12).

Reds start with Abadía de Gomariz (€11.5), a blend of Sousón, Brancellao, Ferrol and Mencía. The VX Cuvées are sold as table wines; both of them are blends of Sousón, Caiño Longo, Caiño da Terra, Mencía and Carabuñeira but while VX Cuvée Caco is aged for 20 months in oak, VX Cuvée Primo spends up to 30 months in barrels.